Birthday Bang
by BettyBest2
Summary: Gelda is to choose a suitor by the end of her birthday with the knowledge that this person will be her future husband. She is determined to do so, even if the last person winds up being someone completely unexpected. Or rather, what she wanted all along.


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from The Seven Deadly Sins/ Nanatsu No Taizai. They all belong to the wonderful Nakaba Suzuki.

This story, however, belongs to me.

 **Sorry for the unoriginal title. Happy birthday to our lovely Gelda! This vampire is truly precious and deserves to be celebrated!  
**

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Gelda sighs unenthusiastically from her place seated in her large cushioned chair placed squarely in the center of her sitting room. Her posture is slumped hinting at her boredom as she heaves a heavy exhale once more. Her fingers go to pick at a sequin in the lining of her puffy, elegant dress, something she feels is entirely wasted as her evening is being spent sitting there waiting for the next male to arrive.

What a way to spend her birthday.

Her father had her servants make sure her hair had been brushed to perfection and twisted neatly across her shoulder, her skin scrubbed until her pale complexion was blinding, the color of her dress was eye catching—a deep red she felt positively soaked in—and that her lips were at least painted subtly so her lack of smile wasn't noticed. A suitor was to be picked tonight by her hand, or in other words, she'd be meeting her future husband by the end of her birthday.

A knock comes to her door once more and she waves a hand carelessly for it to be opened. Her eyes are locked on the window to her left where the nearly cloudless sky lies. The sole guard in the room opens the door and lets the next male into the room. From the sound of the new comer's footsteps, without even looking, she can tell he's rather confident. And his smell is practically _dripping_ his masculinity.

He stops before her and she gives him a slow inspection as she's done to everyone before. From first glance, she can see that he's quite a looker: towering, wicked smirk that tells of dark possibilities, and eyes that speaks volumes of what he wants to do with her. She doesn't even have to use her abilities to see what he wants. It's clear. And thus she puts on the a charming smile that's fooled each man before him so far.

"Good evening. It's a pleasure." She offers her hand which he takes eagerly in his larger rougher grasp.

He kisses the back and purrs suggestively as his eyes meet hers from under his bangs. "The pleasure's all mine. For you, Princess."

He hands her a box prettily sealed in colorful paper and a bow which she takes while mentally huffing at what could be inside _this time_. But for his sake she smiles with a quiet, "Thank you," and begins to open the paper without care, to reveal, _surprise surprise_ , a new bauble for her collection that seems never ending. With dainty care, that's been practiced the entire night, Gelda places the new bracelet on her wrist and once again smiles up at the handsome male whose scent spikes with interest.

Ah, he is a looker, who could make one's hormones go wild like all the others, but just from his gift she knows he only wants her as a trophy. He doesn't actually want _her._ "Thank you again. This is absolutely lovely," She comments after having barely glanced at the thing.

She intends to have him shown to the door when his hand scoops hers up once more stealing a breath from her when he places his lips back on her hand, this time lingering in his presence. "Anything to please, my future wife, right?"

Her eyebrow arches in distaste as she snatches her hand away from his grasp. "Yes, and I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that when you meet her." Quickly she waves her left hand and her loyal guard escorts the male from the room just as she unclips the bracelet with a grumble. The thing is absolutely gaudy and blinding to stare at. "Green? What does he take me for? So tasteless…" She flicks the jewel behind her with the rest before it and rises from her seat, deciding it better to stand for the next round of meetings.

And so for the next hour she pastes on a smile, tries on new pieces of jewels, points out new places for figurines, and even has to arrange a few paintings, all while turning down guy after guy all perfectly appealing to the eye and rousing to the blood simply because their interests were impure. She didn't want to just end up pinned below them in bed and left to gather dust alone as they take her as their wife for show. She wants someone who would actually care. That's not too much to ask is it? She's determined to find someone damn it! Her birthday can't be a complete waste locked in this room full of presents that hold no meaning.

The heels she wears begin to send spikes of pain through her feet and the perfect persona her father wanted her to present begins to crack as she takes them off and tosses them into the pile of shiny jewels. They fit in anyway with the sequins embedded into them, she thinks. Plopping back into her comfortable chair, Gelda turns her blue eyes to her guard an aged vampire, but still one of the best. From her pleading eyes, he smiles sympathetically in understanding. "Don't worry, Princess. This guy's the last one."

She bolts up straight in her seat as her heart jumps. "What!?" How did that happen? The last one! If he's not likeable—which is most likely seeing as the several dozens of men before him were turned down—then what is she to do? What is she to tell her father? Her tastes are too refined? She didn't just want to be someone's plaything to be walked all over? Her hands go to her cheeks in distress. Her old brute will wind up picking for her then…

Gelda shakes her head, dislodging a few strands of hair from her elegant twist and making her appearance far from perfect at this point. No she'll just have to work with him… whoever they are.

Decision made she nods to her guard who goes to open the door. Gelda sucks in her stomach, unwittingly making her chest appear larger in the dress cut across it and actually gives her full attention to the person walking through the door.

They, however, don't do the same for her.

Their eyes are dark, _a black kind of dark_ , and look bored like hers have been all night. No, _worse_. He looks like he's only just has enough life in him to breathe and walk forward. This causes Gelda's eyes to widen before something else about his features quickens her breathing. There's an obsidian mark curled over his left eyebrow, _the mark of a demon._ If his eyes hadn't given him away, that certainly does. She tenses her grip around the arms of her chair and lets her eyes wander further, taking in the interesting shape of his hair and how dark the strands are. _'Everything about him seems dark,'_ She mentally laughs as a corner of her lips turns up.

But she likes it oddly enough. The way he carries himself in the line of his shoulders, the strength of his posture, and the tell tell definition of his muscles—she nearly bites her lip at the peak the opening his coat offers of his chest and stomach—is enough to give away his values in battle. Maybe that's good that he's not power seeking like the others? That instead he's dedicated to getting stronger instead? Perhaps that way he'll want to protect her instead?

...It's definitely doing wonders for his physique regardless.

Gelda decides on standing for their introduction, actually interested in trying to get to know this man. Her hand goes out as a genuine smile appears on her face. "Hello, I'm Princess Gelda. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Finally his eyes meet hers head on and she honestly doesn't know what she expects in them doing so. The disinterest she finds there sends her spirits plummeting before indignation flares. "I'm Zeldris. Here you go."

A box, plain, brown, and a bit beat up is thrust into her hand instead of his and her smile withers into a rumpled frown. She opens it after hearing something rattle inside and a large circle forms of her mouth in aghast when she sees a lumpy old rock as her gift. Her eyes go to his face to see him looking at the window she gazed through before, expected to see some kind of humor in his expression. _Nothing._ He just looks entirely indifferent. "Is this some kind of joke!?" She demands as she feels heat go to her cheeks staring from the rock to his face and back again.

Zeldris flicks his eyes to her and he actually shrugs. "No, not really. If you couldn't tell already, I don't exactly wish to be here nor do I want you as some sort of _wife._ " He steps over the word as if it personally offended him.

Her hands grip the box tightly causing it to shake in her hold. No one would believe her to be a Princess if they looked upon her now. "You can't be serious. In fact, I don't believe you."

Something festers in his eyes and the sword strapped to his left hip is pulled with expertise from its scabbard in a show of dexterity. She sucks in a breath and drops her gift immediately holding up her hand to her guard who she knows was going to attempt to strike down Zeldris for such a bold move. But Zeldris isn't attacking, she sees, he's simply showcasing his sword with a grimace upon his face. "I'm dead serious. I would have been getting closer to my goal of achieving a higher status, if I hadn't been sent here to try and gain _your_ hand. But instead I had to get a gift for someone I didn't even like, so I cut that from a stone on the way. Then I had to wait to even see you, just to find that you were some spoiled Princess—"

 _"Spoiled!?"_ She cries, feeling attacked.

He replaces his sword and gestures around to all the things littering the room with a dry smirk. "Look at all this shit!"

"These are gifts! I didn't want them!" She counters taking a step closer as her chest rises and falls quickly with her stirring anger.

He cuts his gaze, disbelieving. " _Right._ Either way, I don't want to be here. So can you turn me down and we can get on with our lives, _Lady Gelda."_ He draws her name out patronizingly and it irks her greatly.

It also draws something tight in her stomach and sets a low throb between her legs.

His power and strength are wonderfully enthralling and his demeanor overall an enticing challenge. She's never been spoken to in such a way, passed over as unexceptional, and the urge to meet him head on is suddenly all consuming. She wants to tame him, _conquer him_. This demon will do just fine as a future husband.

But first she must pull him in first.

Gelda changes her tone, lowering it and smoothing it until it's a sinful string of words. "So you don't want me to come home to each day? To warm your bed each night?"

His eyes burn against her and she withholds her shiver. "I don't have time for a wife."

"Fine then," She shrugs her shoulders and eases closer to him in smooth gliding steps until there's only a small gap between them. She internally hums at his natural scent, crisp and something she can't quite describe as anything but mouthwatering. "I'll let you leave on one condition."

The irritation is clear in the way his eyebrow twitches under his wild bangs. "And that is?"

She exhales shakily, anticipation speeding her pulse in her veins as she imagines what will happen next. "Kiss me and if I can get a sound of pleasure from you, you must court me. If you pull one from me, you can leave."

His lip curls and he nearly recoils. "I don't know how many people you've kissed today."

Now her lips purse as she crosses her arms under her chest. "I haven't kissed anyone! They've only kissed my hand, something you failed to do."

"With good reason," he mutters.

"So will you do it?" She prods, entirely to hopeful to have his lips on hers. Her very first kiss, with a demon so handsome no less…

He smirks and her stomach flips delightfully. "You're too eager. I'll win this easy."

Gelda grins, beyond pleased and turns to her guard. "You are relieved from duty for the night."

The guard is hesitant, but eventually does as she says, leaving the room after eyeing the demon with caution.

She wants desperately to hide her inability in knowing what to do, but she winds up just staring with hooded, wanting eyes that only make his smirk grow wider. Zeldris takes control of the situation then, pulling her in his arms until she's flush against him, her palms splayed on his chest. Her eyes drift shut when his thumb raises to brush over her bottom lip in several slow swipes and from just this she has to struggle not to hum in pleasure.

The heat of his lips just barely brushing over her lower lip is like a small explosion of colors and lights behind her eyelids as her knees lose their strength and her throat closes around her swooning heart. _She wants this so much_. And he only does it again, teasing her bottom lip until she parts her lips with a shuddered breath. Zeldris moves in slowly then, slanting his mouth fully over hers, so that she can feel every exquisite detail like twisted flares of pleasure in her mind. Her first instinct as molten pools generously in her veins, is to sound her pleasure and push for more. But she fights against it and kisses back as best as she can.

Her very first kiss and it feels like tingles are building in her palms, at the base of her stomach, and racing excitedly up her spine. Gelda's lips move against his in response to these sensations more awkwardly than his smooth caresses that fuzz her thoughts and heightens her awareness to the throb between her legs, but he doesn't seem to care. His hands grip her tighter to his form as he breathes a bit harsher. She feels one slide up the curve of her back in perfect detail. The way his fingers linger on her exposed shoulder blades like rough strokes forces a breath from her, and the teasing of his fingertips at the nape of her neck nearly unravels her at the seams. She has to force the tension coiling inside of her out in the grip of her fingers on his shoulders and the slow exhales through her nose. When his hand ends up threaded in the back of her hair holding her in place, his kiss becomes more aggressive whirling her mind and nearly making her go limp in his arms.

She feels the moan building, her pleasure a constant tightening in her belly when abruptly his tongue nicks against the point of her fang and blood begins to trickles sluggishly down her tongue. He jolts a bit but she shudders, sucking on his tongue as she slides hers sensuously against his. Gelda's eyes flutter beneath her eyelids at the flavor she receives, and her chest rapidly expands with her rushed breaths, her need finally too much as it thrums wildly in her blood. Gelda hardly notices it when she moans brokenly into his mouth just as he gives a rough sounding groan. She doesn't care about their silly challenge as she brings her hands to the back of his hair to grip tightly, holding him there to kiss with inexperience. She simply doesn't want the blissful heat inside of her to disappear.

Somehow, she manages to push into his mouth with a low hum of triumph. She pushes deeply with quick kisses that vacillate between her wish to keep their mouths together and her need to breathe. All she can hear is the sound of their heavy breathing, her heart humming in her ears, and the wet sounds of their lips separating. The vampire has never felt more aflame in her life and there just seems to be no way of helping the sensation as her mind melts with her desire and her body presses closer for more.

It's only when she feels a bit of saliva slipping down their lips does some of her reasoning come back to her in the form of embarrassment at her inexperience in kissing. She pulls her mouth back somewhat unwillingly already keeping her eyes away from his sharp gaze. Their heavy breathing dominates the room for a moment and allows her mind to take in how close they are, how close they still are as his hands refuse to let her go—not that she thinks she'd be able to regain her footing anytime soon if he did. Gelda swipes her hand over her lips suddenly weighed down by how disgusting her kiss might've seemed. The pressure of his stare is maddening but she still gets out, "I'm sorry... That was very unladylike of me."

There's no hesitation in he gravelly response, "I don't give a damn."

She barely has time to glance up in surprise before his mouth is on hers again, pulling her under the undeniable shroud of need once more. This time though his hands follow the curve of her spine until they mold over the swell of her rear, gripping and massaging there until she can't breathe. Gelda's head falls back from his when he lifts her up and curls willing thighs around his waist. His lips wind up dragging down her chin and neck in doing so before suctioning along the column then suckling at her collarbone. Is it even possible to feel so driven by raw want, she wonders dazedly, as sparks akin to the sear of electricity flares up everywhere this demon touches her?

She knows in this moment she's absolute putty in his hands as he clutches her while marking her skin. He rolls his pelvis between her thighs, pulling drawn out shaky sounds from her as she's tormented by the length of him right up against her throbbing center. She's shaking so much from the slow drag of him against her and the steady path his lips make sliding further down towards her chest until her insufferable dress halts his efforts.

His voice so dark and coarse is demanding against her ears and her fingers tighten in his smooth raven hair in reaction. "Where's your bed? I need to—" The rock of his hips is answer enough of what he needs to do.

It takes an unsteady breath from the Princess, her mind suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that this is it, her first time. She's had many chances to let some handsome noble pull her into his bed, but this demon who speaks so crass, who seems too careless about her importance and more about bettering himself is somehow what she wants. Oh, she's never wanted anything more...

"The door in the back leads to— _aah!_ " He moves swiftly, startling a squeak from her and the small sitting room dissolves into her large, extravagant bedroom.

Moonlight floods the room from her left tracking Zeldris' movements towards the massive bed in the center. She shivers when his lips leave a few light kisses against the shell of her ear, filing her cheeks with a tingling kind of warmth. But then he tells her with a haughty chortle, "I thought you said you weren't spoiled. This room tells an entirely different story, Gelda."

She draws her lower lip between her teeth to hide the low moan from how her name sounds on his lips, like a pleasure he wants to savor with an unhurried kind of patience. Instead she swats a hand against his shoulder for bringing that up once more. "I'm my father's only daughter, of course he's going to make sure I'm given all these things."

A tiny pleading whimper settles in her throat when he nips her earlobe then soothes it with his tongue. "Whatever you say, Princess."

Pushed by his disbelief and mind-numbing touches, Gelda begins to tug sharply at the coat clinging to his torso. Only Zeldris beats her to the idea first. The moment he stops at the foot of her bed a bit of his impatience bleeds free in the quick shredding of her dress right up the back. The volume of the tearing of seams, threads, and popping sequins is what causes her to yelp then gasp when her lost support leaves her to bounce lightly on the bed. A rush of heat seeps up her neck and spreads out across her face once she realizes her chest is left bare to his eyes and all that's left on her skin is her panties and stockings. Watching him as he tosses her ruined dress carelessly to the side, Gelda presses her swollen lips together in faux displeasure even if the burn of his eyes over her exposed skin is enough to draw her nipples taut and have her thighs press together against a fresh wave of heat. "Do you know how much that dress costs?"

Out of the corner of her eyes she sees Zeldris smirk while peeling his coat over his head making the tease of his wiry build a delicious reality. "Now she's angry with me."

Gelda feels her heart beating up against her ribs as he kicks out of his boots and makes quick work of the fastening of his scabbard. Her gaze is fully locked on him as she grins, "Not in the slightest. I hated that dress."

Now he looks at her like a predator, the focus in his eyes being enough to take her breath away and cause her to scoot backwards onto her bed slowly as he begins the removal of his trousers. "Good. You won't be needing it anyway."

Her back hits the head of her bed and she sucks in air that does nothing to cool her insides. His pants are abandoned as he crawls sluggishly towards her. The smirk on his face is an ever present feature that both entices her blood and makes her want to swipe it off. Gelda feels pinned in place at the sight of his lean muscles screaming of his strength and what exactly he could do with her with such ease and the rigid length between his thighs, a new and thrilling visual, flushed and twitching in a fascinating display. She can only stare like the inexperienced woman she is, feeling suddenly over dressed as he stops at her feet.

She can't let that be. So with wobbly fingers she grips the sides of her panties and edges then down her thighs until his hands come over hers. "I think I should do that, don't you?" Her eyes are helplessly drawn to his as his fingers take control, pulling her underwear off the rest of the way. Once again the power falls into his hands as he pushes her thighs apart revealing all for him to see. She forces out a breath while letting her eyes follow the path his fingertips dust feather light up the thin material on each of her legs stopping mid thigh. "Let's keep these on. Fucking you with stockings on seems hotter in my mind."

Gelda giggles nervously at his admission as her body fills with an ache parting her thighs further seems to convey. His hands grip her waist then, the callous feel along his palms as he pulls her onto her back and under him is enough to cause her eyes to flutter and her chest to swell with a lingering moan. Her body jolts with an electric hum once when he kisses her lightly, twice when he settles her legs around his waist, and thrice when he begins to rock his heavy length along her slick cleft. "You're so wet," he groans stealing a kiss or two from her that leaves her momentarily speechless.

"That's… t-that's good, right?" She asks not completely sure and unable to hide the wanting sounds that brush softly past her lips each time the head of him bumps into a bundle of nerves at the top of her slit.

A sound deep and ravenous gathers in his chest and she arches breathless into him. "It's perfect…"

She thinks she's sinking into a vat of euphoria that can't get any better as her hands slide up his chest marveling at the firm feel and rushed beats of his hearts before curling into his shoulders as he shifts against her. That wonderful feeling of floating on heated clouds all but vanishes when he then presses forward and a decidedly painful cry comes from her instead at the stretching, tearing feel that overcomes the pleasure.

Zeldris freezes in place as her breathing comes out in tiny gasps. She squints up at him shook by the turn of events and the look he gives her is like he's seeing her for the first time. "Shit... You've never done this before have you? I should've guessed from the way you kissed…"

Nerves sail through her veins as she tries to say something, anything to keep him in place. She knows he wants what many others have, to bed her in a quick burst of passion, but she can't do that, not without it being painful and horrific. But she doesn't want him to leave either because of her inability to handle it. The pleading in her blue gaze must be apparent even if she can't seem to form the right words that will make him understand, because his hands slip from her waist as he moves to rest more over her while bracing his weight on his arms, caging on either side of her head.

Zeldris captures her lips with his, the sensation lingering as their chests brush together and it's like his entire demeanor changes by the time he pulls back. The quiet intensity of his eyes is staggering and she wiggles her hips against him wanting that tantalizing idea of more. "What you need is something slow…" He murmurs, his lips grazing hers as he brings his fingers down the curve of her side like a fiery trail that causes her to quiver.

She lifts her mouth up to his pressing a kiss there with only a hint of the desperation she feels. "Please, Zeldris…"

He must feel the charge that runs through her at uttering his name as well, because he starts to rock into her at a measured pace while his mouth works towards her chest. And she chokes on a little cry when his distracting tongue flicks across her nipple before pulling the nub between his teeth, sucking it into his mouth, and causing her body to twitch at the enveloping feel.

Her fingers find themselves in his hair as her mouth falls open with soft breathy moans and sighs. He's pressing further, reaching deeper with his steady rhythm as his mouth dips between the valley between her breasts before nipping the swell of her neglected nipple with a heady groan of his own. Her eyes flutter beneath closed eyelids as she relishes in his muscles flexing with motion against her, the heat of his exhales over her sensitive skin, the sweat gathering and sticking between them, simply the sheer presence of him over her is heavenly in her mind, breathless to her soul.

By the time his thighs hit the back of hers in a breath hitching pattern, she's making little desperate noises she's helpless in holding back. Zeldris' fingers make that path back up against her side and a longer cry flits from her on the fast beats of her heart. His lips slanting over hers briefly is what pulls her eyelids open half way. "Is this good...?"

She guides one of her hands down his back resisting the urge to drag her nails into his flesh as her mind falls back into the sensation of him inside of her, hitting places that causes her stocking clad legs to twitch tighter around his waist. "So very good…" Better than good. Better than she'd ever imagined it to be.

His lips fall to her throat and he presses even closer atop of her so there's no mistaking the sounds of pleasure and the hasty breaths that passes between them. The smirk he gives is scorched onto her flesh as she moans long, low. "You're so sensitive, Gelda…"

She gazes up at him through a few shaken cries when his hand at her side simmers down her thigh then up her clenching stomach where something explosive is pooling low. "No, I think you're just... really good at this."

She watches in rapt interest as heat bridges across his nose before his hand snakes under her lower back and his mouth melds with hers, a passionate flurry that stokes her insides intensely until she's meeting his shallow thrusts with arches of her own. She can't find a way to express the pressure swelling inside of her where they combine wetly, nor the burst of delight she falls under when his hand begins to fondle her breasts between them.

Gelda's only aware when he pulls his mouth a scant breath away that something's happening to her when his lustful gaze fills with a calm, intense kind of observation that makes her face burn hotter. Now the tiny explosions his rigid length would cause her with each press inside her begins to radiate outward, every brush of his skin, caress of his lips, tease of his tongue is almost overwhelming. She feels as if she's coming undone from the inside out, as if her next cry will be a full blown scream if she's not careful. But she can't seem to control it no matter how many gasping breaths she takes or how strongly she clings to Zeldris. Zeldris, who is running his lips across her jaw and neck in an almost frenzy at sensing her volatile state. " _Zeldris, I-I—_ "

Her words are stopped by his smiling lips and she nearly wants to smack him from stopping her from trying to tell him this important sensation before it—! Her eyes squeeze shut tighter as she gives a high whimper against his mouth before full on screaming when she pulls away. Her insides feel as if they've shattered then are blown away by the rippling effect that spreads from her center relentlessly. And impossibly she feels wetter and hotter where Zeldris slides into her with pleased sounds that makes her bliss surge higher. So as not to melt into the mattress below her or float away on the gust of a dream, Gelda hooks her ankles together above the curve of his rear just as she feels the tension in him give way. Once again her lungs are left without air as she feels the rush of his release within her, the gratification in his muscles beneath her touch as he moans into her neck. And it's all so very wonderful.

It's unclear in her fizzy mind when his hips eventually stop rocking to the ebbing waves of their ecstasy. Only when the peasant haze begins to dissipate does she notice Zeldris slip from her hold as he trails kisses down her chest, her stomach, stopping just at the place between her hips. She doesn't know why he does it, but when he flops down beside her with his hand caressing her belly she feels as if this was more than just a quick tussle between sheets somehow.

"You feeling alright?" He questions after a moment, forcing her eyes open past the drowsiness that had began to take over.

She turns to see him cast in a good bit of shadow from the moonlight streaming in behind him. "I'm fine." She says honestly with a sigh that settles like honey in his bones. "Was I good for what you needed?" She then hesitantly broaches, turning her eyes away instead to twist stray strands of blond hair that had come free from her tie during their tryst. He'd noticed her off kissing skills, perhaps he'd think she was bad in bed too? She hadn't done as much as she'd liked to being too overwhelmed by sensations anew.

His thumb and forefinger capture her chin forcing her to stare into his stern gaze as she swallows. "You were more than enough. You were such a brazen little minx disguised as a Princess, I'll admit I wanted to get you in bed and lose myself inside of you all night long. But... you needed something different, something I'm more than willing to give again," he tells her in a silky tone slathered in a dark sweetness she's unable to resist when he kisses her with the heat of a dying star.

She's left to pant on the bed, watching him through hooded eyes when he exits the bed in search of his clothes. This is what puts her heart in a tight vice and makes her appear more meek than she has in a long, long time. "You don't have to go just yet…"

Pants slipped on and boots closely following, he offers her a crooked grin from her place bare and holding the evidence of their time together in plain sight. "I don't think it's wise if one of the demon Princes is caught in the bedroom of the Vampire King's only daughter. It'd put a strain between our two clans would it not?"

A hand flies up to cover her mouth as realizations dawn. _'He's a Prince? It's no wonder he shows no concern of my status…'_

His coat covers marvelous muscles and tousles his hair more and then his scabbard goes into place at last. Zeldris moves to the window making her heart sing painful beats, until he says over his shoulder, "Besides, you'll be seeing more of me. I did lose the bet after all."

She can't contain her gasp of wonderment as he steals off into the night. They'd had a draw. Neither won and yet... Gelda falls back into her mess of sheets with a smile so great, the radiance of the moon is put to shame. Zeldris wants her as a wife one day. The notion is almost too good to believe! She never would have imagined the demon who'd given her a rock as a courting gift would have deflowered her so tenderly, then promised to court her shortly after.

Gelda curls into her sheets with a happy little sigh. Her birthday hadn't turned out so bad in the end, she decides.


End file.
